SF Mayor Dips Into City’s Reserve To Help Fill State Cuts To Services

SAN FRANCISCO, CA - AUGUST 30: San Francisco mayor Ed Lee (L) speaks during a press conference as San Francisco board of supervisors president David Chiu looks on at the new Zendesk offices on August 30, 2011 in San Francisco, California. San Francisco mayor Ed Lee officially opened the offices of Zendesk, a provider of cloud-based help desk software, is the first business to open on San Francisco's Central Market district since the adoption of the Central Market and Tenderloin Area payroll tax exclusion. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and Supervisor David Chiu (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco is picking up the slack and will pay for millions of dollars of social services and health care programs that were cut by the State of California. This week, Mayor Ed Lee pulled $7.2 million out of the city’s reserve budget to do just that.

Trent Rhorer, the head of the City’s Dept of Human Services, said the money will preserve child care for low-income families while helping the elderly, the disabled and the mentally ill.

“State cuts in child care were significant, especially in a high-cost city like San Francisco,” Rhorer explained, saying that the state significantly reduced the rates that childcare providers get reimbursed.

The funding also maintains the current level of mental health treatment, which is another priority according to Rhorer.

SF Mayor Dips Into City’s Reserve To Help Fill State Cuts to Social Services and Health Care

“The loss in the funding would result in seniors and disabled folks not having the access to community supports that they need to stay in their homes and thus would have to rely on institutional types of supports; nursing homes, etc., which are much more costly,” Rhorer said.

San Francisco is waiting for the possibility of another $39 million of cuts in federal funding.

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